good morning.

my name is carl sferrazza anthony. i'm an author and historian of some 1213 books on the ladies both collected biographies in individual all ones and my first two books were on were sort of biography, if you will, on the role of first lady over a 200 year period from 70, 89 to 1989. and today's panel, we are with panel. we are going to, of course, be putting our emphasis on because there's a lot of material just to cover in talking about mrs. so i will i will open a very brief overview of that role of first lady and bringing us up to 1969 when pat nixon becomes a

first lady and by the way, at the time that role was perceived, it had been less than ten years that jackie kennedy had done her famous white house tour of her restoration work, that refurbishing along historical lines of the white house and created the white house. historical association. she had many other projects and interests but was what she became most with followed lady bird johnson, who first undertook somewhat similar effort in terms of the exterior, meaning the land and the environment. first of washington and then of the nation. so there was a big that pat nixon would take on one quote unquote project it.

but in at the overall role first lady, we see from the beginning it was one fraught with symbolism in everything they said did even within the tradition confines of the 19th century and early 20th century with the expectation of women's roles in american society. we see that with first ladies. it could be a little bit different. dolley, for example, use entertaining to essentially integrate not only men and women at social events, but members of husband's party and the opposition trying to forge a spirit of bipartisanship. lucy hayes was famously lemonade. lucy for not permitting the serving of any alcohol in the

white house. and there were sort of cartoons and jokes made, but in fact, it was a political concession to the prohibition party that her husband had made in thanks for their support of nomination in election. as one gets into the 20th century, we see first ladies taking their so-called interests a step into legislation. nellie taft was had an interest in issues civic. she was a member of the national civic foundation at national civic society and she took a great interest in the improvement of washington d.c., but also in the improvement, the safe health and safety of federal workers. and she was a presidential

proclamation in 1912 that ensured the health and safety measures of federal workers. and she was credited publicly for that. florence harding was very active in caring for and seeing to the needs of and visiting the hospitals the federal hospitals where veterans from the first world war were being treated. but it was really like an iceberg because underneath the water she was involved in appointment of the first director of the veterans. so you saw this role of first lady as the media is evolving with first illustrations and then photography and then newsreels and then sound increasingly the role of first

lady's public acts becoming politicized. bess truman, who many think as the ultimate in. nonpolitical first ladies, was actually behind the scenes encouraging the appointment women in the administration and particularly women scientists. she was also advising the president on the creation of a of aramco the arabian american oil company, mamie eisenhower, while thought of as the quintessential oil hostess of the 1950s, used that hostess role to make a statement on civil rights and against senator joseph mccarthy and even jackie kennedy was involved in terms of her interest in the arts. when asked on her tv if she saw a government role, she said,

that's so complicated. i just think everything in the white house should be the best. but in fact was behind the creation. what eventually became the national endowment of the arts and humanities. she also took a great interest in the troubling and growing conflict in vietnam. today, we have for individuals who bring with them a expertise peace and love and appreciation shown for the real pat nixon and the contributions that she made. i will add that at end of this panel, we will be showing a spectacular film about pat nixon and all that she did as first lady. so please stick around for that i'd like to introduce immediately to my right sarah fling, who is an historian and

at the white house historical association maureen nunn, one who is a member of the richard nixon foundation board of directors and a longtime friend the nixon family. her mother helen brown was the best friend of mrs. nixon for many, many decades. the two women were extremely close. mary brennan is dean of college of liberal arts at texas state university and author of pat nixon embattled first lady and on zoom. we'll be hearing from bostock, who worked with president nixon, worked with president nixon during last five years of his life. and wrote the original panels, the gallery panels for the first nixon library. he to curate multiple here, including the one in 2012 marking the centennial of pat

nixon's life. now we have talked a heavy time about dividing some of the areas where mrs. nixon, her greatest impact. and while each individual give focus to that, we're going to also open it up because we all know a lot about mrs. nixon. and if anything is left or needs mentioning, we'll all fill in. i will ask sarah as a historian. the white house historical association, as well as bob barr, stuck to talk about the most immediately public visual impact of. pat nixon. and that was her with the white house historical association. yes, absolutely. and it's very difficult to encompass the many house legacies of mrs. nixon in a short time. but i'll do my best. and i know that bob will supplement this as well.

of course, one of the most obvious is the impact that mrs. nixon has on the white house or her acquisition efforts. and if you walk through the white house today, the white house that you see is largely a testament to her. with white house curator clem conger and bob will talk a little bit more about those acquisition efforts. but this is a project that we're really proud of, of course, the white house historical association in carrying forward a legacy not just of mrs. kennedy who made these efforts very public, but also ladies throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries who realized the importance of preservation people like caroline harrison for example, lou hoover and others who really wanted to augment history of the white house. but one of my personal favorite things about mrs. nixon's work terms of the white house collection is that she inherently understood museum work doesn't end with a collection. and i think so many of us who work in the museum and archival field understand this, that you can have a wonderful, fantastic,

well done collection of objects, furnishings, but none of it matters if you don't get people through the door to, experience them. and while certainly many white house tourists had come through the years, mrs. nixon understood that there were many barriers to for different groups on white tours, and she worked throughout her time there to remove many of these barriers. so one great example of this is wheelchair accessibility at white house, and we're talking about decades before the americans with disabilities act. mrs. nixon realized this something be done here and previous really in terms of white house accessibility really we only see franklin roosevelt make some changes. the white house because of his own wheelchair use, he adds ramps, especially to the west wing and elevators and areas that he uses to get from the residents downstairs. but these aren't in areas where a tourist come to see the white house. so those early things that we see happen at the white house that are later carried to

actually include those that are the people's house, and that's all thanks to mrs. nixon. another barrier that she removes for blind and deaf hard of hearing visitors at the white house and realizing that again, you can't understand, see or hear happening on a tour. you're not getting the full experience or the magic of. the white house collection, the interiors in the house. so she works with the white house guides and she creates interpretation that makes it more accessible for deaf or hard of hearing blind visitors. she even has tours of the white house where biden visitors can physically touch objects in the white house collection. that's really remarkable by modern standards and, initiates a new era of accessibility at the white house. and then a final i want to touch on in terms of accessibility to actually see the people's is multi-lingual visitors and that many visitors to white house might not speak english as their language and that adding

interpretation to come and learn more about the white house really brings in an entirely new demographic of people to understand the history of the executive mansion. so we see these several different ways that she brings access to the people's house. and it's really remarkable. the white house belongs to the people, as jackie kennedy always. and so you need to bring as many people, as many abilities, languages through the door as you can. and on that same level of another thing that i want to add in terms of mrs. nixon's longevity and legacy that we still see at the white house today and tis season for white house garden which we will see very soon. and i think this is a really great legacy of mrs. nixon, the white house tours as we know them today begin with her. in 1973. and this is a chance for members of the public to come learn about the history of the grounds they had been able to come before for something an egg roll and see the white house gardens and grounds, but maybe not learn

so much about why these things matter, why it matters to preserve this history. and at the very first white house spring garden that mrs. nixon hosts, she's got white house gardeners on hand where you can ask questions about what their daily work is like or what that flower or plant, as well as historical resources to learn more and to this to the present, i think it's actually a really interesting piece of her legacy because the nixon era, if you wanted to go a tour of the white house, you could line up very early in the morning, wait all day that you could get in of course, that's no longer the case. it's very difficult to just decide that you want go to the white house. you've got to call your congressman, then you've got to put in a request very early. but the spring and fall garden tours are still a way that people can decide day, that they want to get up close and personal to the white house. and this is a especially relevant for washingtonians is to actually get a chance to go see the gardens and have an opportunity without putting in

weeks and months of and work on the back end to actually go see the people's house. so this is something that, of course, you couldn't have known when she first instituted the garden tours, that they would remain one of the most accessible ways for the public to see the white house. but now we see that as one of her major legacies. and one last thing i mentioned before, i really want to pop over to bob to talk about the collection itself is something that we really take granted now, and it's the illumination of the white house at night in 1970, mrs. nixon the switch to have the white lit after dark which seems crazy now that that wasn't happening. they even use funds that are left over from nixon inaugural activities to do so. but now this is a great legacy that we see from the nixon era, that even if a tourist gets in on red eye flight and it's the middle of the night, they want to walk past and see the people's house. they can do so. and that's all. thanks to pat nixon. i will also, if you would want to mention the fact that, you know, as person who had worked

her whole life, i've i've sensitive to the time constraints of people, particularly federal workers, who work 9 to 5, that during the holiday season she opened at the white house. yes. during the holiday season, we see the white house can delight tours become another one of these nixon era institutions that she introduces. and it's a great example, again, of understanding the needs of actual people. and this is a thread i know we're going to talk about over and and over on this panel is that mrs. understood what people needed. she listened she cared about people actually coming through the doors. so yeah if you're working a 9 to 5 job. no you can't wake up in the morning, stand in line and the heat or the cold all day and hope you can get into the white house. but if there's a candlelight holiday tour, you might just have the chance to go after you've worked a long day and. enjoy the festivities with your family so it's just one of those other examples of her really tuning into how do we get more

people to experience the white house as the people's house do they are the candlelight tours still held are not from my understanding the candlelight tours actually ended around the 911 era for security agencies. so many security. bob hoping you might be able to fill us in a little bit more on the actual process of of of the collection and creating that legacy. she. sure. i'm happy to sara's excellent explanation how important it was to mrs. nixon. that people be able to see house reminded me of a story that she would tell that in 1947 when she and the future president had just arrived in washington is the newly elected representative the 12th district of california. they received an invitation to go to a reception to the truman white house and the new represent steve young. -- nixon was not too keen on

going. he had a very busy workload. and mrs. said to him, come on, --, we need to go. we may never get back to that house again. so i think she retained for her entire life the the kind of the wonder in all that people would have is being able to see the white house. but the collections are just amazing. the acquisitions that she did she acquired more than 600 pieces of furniture and art and other furnishings for the white house collection. that's more than first lady before or since. and how it all got started is a pretty story as she in president had been over to the diplomatic reception rooms of the state department where clem conger was the and these rooms are filled with one of the finest collections of 18th century american furniture and art that exist in the country. and they they talked to nixon's talking and said, you know, we ought to get congress over here to help us with our collection,

because it's still despite the efforts that mrs. kennedy made, it's still there was still a lot of things that were not properly represented. and a true american sense to the look of the mansion. so she worked with clem conger and to acquire pieces, she was very, very effective that persuading people to lend and sometimes permanently lend, i.e. give pieces to the white house, as she was most of being able to acquire for the white house collection from the family of john and john quincy adams. portraits of president john quincy adams and his wife louisa for the collection. they had a very nice event unveiling that we were, i think, something like 75 of the adams descendants at the white house for that event. every every corner of the white house really reflects, i think, mrs. nixon's commitment increasing the collection and to really make certain that the house reflected, the earliest days of the republic, which is

when it was built back in 2011, karl was good to mention that i had curated mrs. nixon's centennial exhibit. several of us from the foundation went to the white house to meet with some folks there about. how we might involve them in the centennial celebration of mrs. nixon's birth, which would happen in 2012. and we met with the curator, the white house, phil allman, and remember saying to him, we would really like to a couple of pieces to exhibit out at the library in california. i said you know mrs. nixon acquired more than 400 pieces i'm sure there's something the white house warehouse that you could send out there that would not be missed in the house. and he quickly that everything she collected was of such quality and such historic importance that none of it is in the white house and they're going to have to figure out how they can take a couple of things that are in the mansion at that point send them out to california and they did they sent us a duncan fife that was in the green room and a

beautiful 19th century landscape by william innes that was called the rainbow in the berkshire hills. and we were able to display those two pieces as, part of mrs. nixon centennial exhibit back 2012. so reach and the effect of she was able to accomplish both in terms of how the rooms are decorated as well a continues on and to this day she said at the time when they opened the blue room that had been recently redone someone asked, you know, how long do you hope this lasts? and she said, oh, i'd be happy if it lasts ten years. well, in fact the imprint she has put on the mansion has lasted 50 plus years and will, i'm sure, for quite while. i just want to read a real quick quote from william seal, the probably the best white house historian and certainly a major, major impact on the white house historical association. he wrote the definitive two volume history of the white house. fascinating read if you ever get a chance. but he wrote that the nixon era,

the greatest single period of collecting in white house history, the great collection of white house americana today, is the long shadow of mrs. nixon. the impulse, the idea, the energy were hers. and i don't think anyone more succinctly and persuasively the impact that mrs. nixon made on the white house collection. and just on how it looks overall and the fact that all of the things she did to enable more more people to come through the house and enjoy it, particularly in the era era, when it was much easier to get into the white house is something that, you know, literally millions of people have seen. they may not know that it was mrs. nixon who who acquired all these things and made it possible for. people with disabilities, others to come through and enjoy the house. she really has left. she really left an enduring mark on executive mansion that people and and really enjoy right up

until the present time and i'm sure will for many years. you know i know that along with the furniture she was, as you mentioned, the adams portraits. she was responsible for the, i think, permanent loan is what they called it, of a portrait of dolley madison in bringing that to public display for the first time in the white house and was also there to oversee this rather sensitive process of bringing the portraits. the late president kennedy and jacqueline kennedy. and at that by that time, onassis is in arranging for the former first lady and her two children to come back to the white house and mrs. nixon had known as a senate and then vice presidential wife, the elderly. mrs. woodrow wilson, edith wilson and i know she first was

very excited before she married president nixon at a a conference on. social services in new york at the waldorf astoria met mrs. roosevelt. so and then of course was very close to mamie eisenhower filled in for mrs. eisenhower. those eight years of the eisenhower. so she was a very sensitive to the role of first lady. but i'm wondering, bob, if you could tell us just a little bit about the the visit back and how she very helped to arrange for the visit of mrs. onassis in her kids tour. mrs. kennedy. when she left the white house, president kennedy's assassination had not returned to house at all and despite many invitations from president johnson to do so. but when the portraits of the president and mrs. kennedy were ready to be hung in the white

house, normally there would be ceremony where the family come in and see the official reception and of these portraits. but mrs. kennedy, then mrs. onassis did, not want to come back. so nixon said, you know, why don't you bring your two children, just the three of you, we'll have a private event. we'd love to have you here for dinner. the girls can show your children, the nixon daughters, the girls as everybody called them back then can show the kids around. and and you get to see the portraits privately. so mrs. onassis agreed to that the president sent government plane up to new york to bring them down to the white house. they came in completely without anybody knowing. helen thomas had managed to find out and they promised to get. she was the reporter the upi. they made a deal with mrs. thomas that if if she would just not print the story after the visit was over, they'd give her

the exclusive. so mrs. onassis and caroline and john kennedy came. they were both teenagers at that point. they had dinner at, the white house, the president took them down to the oval office. they could see where their father had worked. it was a it was just a special kind of family day. and at the end, after the visit was over and the kennedys, mrs. onassis and her children went back to new york and mrs. onassis wrote the most letter to the president mrs. nixon that concluded with a phrase that was just very, very touching. she said a day that i have long regretted has become one of the most precious i have spent with my children. and that was the only time jackie kennedy returned to the white house from the time she left in of 1963, and until she passed many years later. and i think i think that that sort of that event is not just

important from a standpoint of the history of the white house. but here were two men who had run against each other in 1960, had known each for a long time from their service, how they came to the house together and at the 1946 election, they were in the senate when vice president nixon was president of the senate and had had that very tough and bitter campaign in 60. but when when families in the white house. i think that they find that that sharing that experience transcends politics and. i remember we had asked caroline kennedy do a little video explaining that visit. and she said pretty much that at the end, she said, having lived in the white, no matter what party you're in, that that that transfer ends. anything to do with politics that it's more about patriotism and tradition, love of country. and i think that visit really

encapsulates something that i think perhaps isn't as prevalent today but wouldn't be a bad thing to go back to. so much for that, bob and maureen, i'd like to now turn to you and starting to address what was a very large and and groundbreaking role that pat nixon undertook as an ambassador to foreign nations not an ambassador in any kind of a formal, but a goodwill ambassador and a representative of the president at a time when relations when president nixon was very in middle east policy and the united states was involved, many south american countries, their government, of course, in what was then called the soviet bloc behind the iron

curtain, going to not just the soviet union and china, but to many of the satellites of the soviet union. and to talk a little bit why she undertook that role and the impact that she had. well, first of all, i'd like to thank the nixon foundation and the archives for putting this together, putting this together today. it's just fantastic. so thank you very much. and i want to start by saying that i, the oldest living person who knew pat nixon for her entire life. i was born in 1942. so the math pat was born in 1912. i want to go back just a bit. how this happened. my mother drowned, was teaching whittier high school and thelma. she had changed her name from to pat in of her father because she was on the evening of st patrick's. so my mother and pat met when they were teaching whittier high school and they became long time

best friends. they even died in the same year, kind of gruesome. but i mean it just to show is to show their friendship. so i knew pat nixon and president nixon from the time that i was born. and i'm a much better person for knowing both of them. they really an incredible people. i think the first memory i had born in 1942, the first memory i had of them coming to our really very small house in long beach a very high active person, very a lots of energy and didn't like to go to bed. so and i had this huge rabbit. it was a stuffed rabbit. and can i call him --? so -- and pat would say, maureen, go get your bunny go, get your bunny. so i ran the hall. get the bunny. bring it back or the bunny. looks like it's really tired. maybe i should add. so here we are running back and forth in the hallway and then

falling asleep and but you know, incredible stories. so to fast forward to 1953 when he was vice president under president vice president eisenhower came vice president nixon and pat and said, i want you to go on a ten week trip to 19 countries, 40th, 3000 miles. well, pat had never left her children, and tricia was eight at the time. julie six. and if you have ever traveled to the far east, you know how far it is. and they were going to 90 in different countries she's in different weather, different people, different leaders, different food the whole nine yards. i remember that pat came out to go shopping with my mother and. maybe some of you remember there

was historical buff arms here in southern i see in southern california. and the buyer selected some clothes for pat that needed little or no ironing. and so actually got those clothes she splurged on one dress that was chiffon and when they got to india she had the wonderful person at the hotel she only brought person with her, by the way, on this entire. 19 country trip. one person. mm hmm. consider what is. anyway, this. this lovely lady was ironing the chiffon. you know that chiffon grows. it's stretchy. it's so for the state dinner that night. and if you want the details this to julie nixon, eisenhower, a fantastic book called. pat nixon the untold story that you can get. and it's really lot of details that, you know, i don't have time to share with you, but you can read about it. anyway, the chiffon was on the

floor and so she put this dress on and she was very trim, as you know, for her entire life. so they zipped up her and on the bottom was all of the that had swirled down. so she gathered up all the chiffon she wrapped it around her body. she down into the state dinner and stood there absolutely motionless. and she wrote to my mother, she said, helene, that was when the statue was born because she absolutely could not move all she was the absolutely loved her. they loved her because, as she said, even though, i can't speak your language you will know if i have love in my heart. excuse me my heart for you. the way she briefed on this trip was she really wanted to meet the people. she did not want to go teas and luncheons. she wanted to actually go to the schools. she wanted to go to the hospitals and visit people, be with them. so she learned language

phonetically to be able to greet the people. and she also one story is that, you know, people say, well, how in the world did you with all the food that she'd never seen? so one story when she was in burma and they were at a dinner, you know, she could not be the ugly american and say, ooh, what is i don't think i like it. i'm a vegan, whatever. i mean, you couldn't do that. so there was an unplugged night, a bird on the plate with beady eyes. and so she touched it with her fork and it fell off the plate. but she very discreetly just lifted it right back on the fork again and just around it and i know when she was back in the day, back in 1954, when they went there were no phones and you know, no technology like we have now. so she would write my mother letters and say, you know, what was happening on the trip? and those letters in the archives. she also left her two daughters, eight and six years old.

so she wanted to actually keep in touch with them. tell me about how are you doing? what's the weather like? where did your go? what's a birthday party like? she was just loved so much and you know that that goodwill trip actually was the goodwill ambassador there. so it wasn't that only trip. she went on further trips. she went to a leper colony in panama. can you imagine? she was the first woman to enter a combat zone in vietnam and going into a helicopter. she visited the men in the hospital who had served in the war in the vietnam war. she went to them, sat by their bedside. she wanted to know the names of their parents or their loved ones here in the united states or wherever they. and when she got back, she actually phoned their parents and said, i sat with your son and he's doing well. she, you know, was the great

ambassador for the you know, we all know the story about going to china and she didn't want to go you know to the teas and luncheon so she visited a where they had acupuncture she visited the zoo. do you know the story of the pandas and you know she just was that that kind of person she was an enthusiastic person she was a real person. the climate on those trips in the far east were absolutely sometimes 100 degrees. and then you go to cold weather. they went to maybe some of you have been there. burma, laos, cambodia, the philippines, vietnam. so she took one suitcase for cold weather and she took another suitcase for warm two suitcases, one assistant, 19 countries, 43,000 miles in ten weeks. and did get sick? no. did she get hungry?

yes. so they were able to take rations. they were able to take you know, when you go on the airplane, they they give you snacks. so they actually took those things from the airplanes and they put them in their suitcases because sometimes when they come back from a state dinner, 60 state dinners on that trip, they were really, really hungry. they'd sit down and eat the saltines and eat the tomato soup. but i think one thing that is really just absolutely engraved in my mind that when she said, even though you can't speak, their language, they will know by the smiles in their that you truly have love in your heart for all of them. and as mentioned on the panel, to she was voted the most admired woman in the world for 17 years even when she left the white house she was right up there with mother teresa and, you know, she was just a great lady. so this this symposium today is

just really, really i know i will one particular trip that she took that was really one kind of, you know wonderful was the trip to russia. of course the trip to china, too. but, you know, people don't know that at that time these were despite television and stereotypes ultimately in the communist country was still a mystery. life in the soviet union in these other soviet communist satellite countries and then in as they used to called red china as a somewhat of a pejorative term but meaning it was communist china that the television followed her and for the first time because of mrs. nixon americans were and

experiencing through her eyes and experiences what life in the soviet union and china was like. right. and i think to that the fact that the eisenhower actually selected him to on the trip, you probably already know there were a half a billion commun chinese that were vying for these countries. so and no westerners been there to actually they didn't know it, even though, you know, a westerner was like. so to experience that and to to to really form a bond that was treasured, it really was so i think also her trip to three african nations as first lady were very important, not only in terms of, you know, international relations and what the nixon administration wanted to achieve, but at a time when united states was undergoing the

first wave, the first generation of civil rights legislation, seeing people of color and mrs. nixon be so personable and so involved and so, so welcome warmly that that had a second kind of impact that perhaps was always immediately obvious. do you can you recall any stories about her, her to ghana or the ivory coast or. yes she went to the first inaugural and the woman president of the ivory coast and i to go back to just something because many ask me, okay, how did she do this on these trips? how did she pack her clothes and secret for packing? was it maybe you this was to put tissue paper in between. so if i were going to pack this jacket, i would fold it. but then if i were going to pack the pants i would put tissue paper between the jacket and the pants. and then i would take my shoes.

i going to do total, total visual here, but would take my shoes. she would her shoes and she would actually put things that would fit into the shoes. so, you know, you'll those pictures of her in ghana to was actually they they draped maybe maybe some of you have been africa people are so warm and welcoming and so what they did was they actually wrapped her in that country's cloth. they put a turban on her head and ask her to get up and dance. and she did. she just really loved the people so much. and there she. oh, my gosh. thank you. thank you. for the incredible years video. and you can they had her get out and dance. the children loved her. they would crawl in her lap. there's a very quick story about what she was on one of the trips. a little girl came up to her, sir, do you mind? and she came up to her and. she was six years old and she did not mrs. nixon's hand for the entire all the way into the to the gathering she just held under her hand.

so could just see how much she was loved, you know. and i think one point to make with particularly with the of foreign trips is that there's legislation and there's policy and are treaties and there wars that deal with all of the political realities of internation relations. but when see somebody from an entirely different culture treating others as as human beings whether they're men or women or children or older people. and you know that this something this was not some grand plan of mrs. nixon. it was simply relying on human instincts. yes. she really yes. and i want to let mary, please. at the time, i the fact that you probably all know that she was her parents had both died by the time she was 17. so she really the ethic of hard

work but she always said to me, she said, maureen, take your job seriously. just don't take yourself seriously. and so enjoy, really, really have a good time. she live that she truly, truly lived that she worked hard, very, very hard and but you know, she had a wicked sense of humor. her laughter would light up this her her secret service name was starlight. and you imagine that's she was. well, mary, maybe you could talk to us a little bit and address what for? i think a of reporters at the time and the public, it was sometimes to be a little bit of an ill defined, quote unquote project. and that was what she called volume two. valerie volunteerism. i know that at one point that vista, which was the national

council of encouraging volunteer tourism, that she was interested. i know and the formation of that and went to several of their meetings but she really functioned and again we should mention that the role of first lady is still developing at this point. there's no chief of staff pat nixon essentially served her own chief of staff and her biographer. i'm wondering, you could talk a little bit about that role. she what she sought to accomplish and its impact. well, excuse me. actually, i think that that kind of ending with this is a good way because so many of you have talked earlier today about this time period was on the cusp of the difference between kind of the way women were in the past. and volunteerism fits into that very well. it's very feminine it's very community oriented.

and so in that it was something that was politically very good, both for her husband and for the party, because they really kind of picked this out for her and kind of told her. this was going to be her topic, but it in well with who she was because she was someone who was this person and this this woman of an earlier generation who said you know what, i had to work hard. i always went out and worked. i've never worked. i always worked hard. and you didn't think in terms of somebody telling her, no, you couldn't write. so in that way it fits with that part of it. but on the other hand, she's also someone said, no, no, no, i'm not going out with these. i'm not going to meet with dignitaries. if i'm going to go meet with volunteer associations, i'm going to go see where they're actually working. and so when they sent her out the press would be waiting for her at the airport with where bouquets of flowers were as the

mayor. and that wasn't where she was. she went to the facility to see what people were doing. now, as a topic it was something that she did appreciate because she was someone who said, i believe that a person is what a person does actually said. i believe it's what does. all right. because that is that's part of what she wants to do. it also this this also how her to be able to escape which called the big shots in washington it helped her to get out of the out of the washington dc scene to go out into the public where she did have this amazing ability and i think it goes back to you said earlier linda it has to do with her authenticity at one of these balls here groups. it was a it was a young people's kind of group that was seeing

and at the end of it this, young man came up and he's like, can i give you a kiss on the cheek? and she said sure. and he told a reporter afterwards, he said, you know, i don't really them. she said i expect this at all. he said, but she was like my grandmother. and that ability for her to just talk to people who did not agree her or who maybe didn't think about her as a person that i think is something that comes through in all of these and i have to say for a minute just going to the africa picture and that picture of her in that blue turban is my favorite picture of her, because the story that i read about it was that she was sitting and they had brought her this fabric and they expected that she would put the fabric under her chair. but instead she stood up and was trying to put it on and the women were amazed that she trying to do this. and so they came up and started dressing her. and that right there did more

than. any other kind of piece of legislation, because again, it was the authenticity of what she was trying to do. she was a woman who was much caught in all of these different. and you always just tried to remain who she and in the process of doing that, i think as we've seen today, she actually was able to do dream make tremendous strides for for women and for a lot of different people i think we might also talk a little mary thank you for that i'm in the time we have left a little bit about politics and we always know president nixon always credited his wife for for really having very wise practical advice but that during the present and c she was not one of his primary advisors and it's one reason why when she was

asked about watergate she was telling the truth when she she learned she only knew what she had learned through the media. most americans did certainly during the vietnam war. of course, the trip to vietnam. then when she went out on the road for some of the volunteer projects, she was confronted by, particularly the student group. i think i can't remember college, but i believe it was in ohio where it was a panel on volunteerism. but there were a lot of people wearing, peace buttons and and so forth and so she she she told the line so to speak she followed the administration policy. there was no conflict there. and then on the women's maybe you could talk a little about that. i know when we did the exhibit why they wore it about first ladies and how they used their clothing to sometimes make a political statement, one of the

most interesting things is that pat nixon was the first first lady to make public appearances in wearing pants in that really sent an immediate visual message of her as sort of a moderate, feminine of that era. she will actually in the article in which because i think that article was it was in ladies home journal that she modeled the pantsuit. she also said, i'm not a feminist you know, because in my day i never had to i never anybody tell me i couldn't do anything and and i think that's a perfectly encapsulates of this difference. right. on the one hand, she still back here. she's a woman of her time, but she's also someone who says, okay, we get these opportunities. we've got to go out and do this. i mean, the second the second term, i think she was coming into her own really being able to kind of take advantage of going on these trips to different countries doing able

to do these things and so i think for her, it i think part of the reason she was so with so many women of her age is that she kind of embodied their feelings of but this is what we are always supposed to do. and this was and this is good and it's valid that i do this. but on the other hand, there's so many things everybody else is doing and i want to be able to do that. and i think that her being able to navigate that, i think was very important. i that on two of the most issues facing at the time which been addressed here before that she was asked during the 72 campaign press conference she was on the campaign trail. her feelings about the equal rights amendment, which she supported and the pending at that point, pending decision roe versus wade, in which she very gently said she believed it was

woman's individual right to that kind of a decision. so didn't really weigh in personally on that but you bring a really important point that i don't believe anyone's ever addressed and that is what do we all think, mrs. nixon had she had the full second term. if she had had those remaining three years. if the president had resigned. i know that's a difficult question because then you the idea of watergate overhanging it, what would have happened with him is obviously going to affect her directly. but in terms of her achievements in her interests, i'm hoping all all four of you could weigh in and a little bit about that. go ahead, sir. go down the line. it's a difficult because, you know, it's always tough for historians to deal in counterfactuals and thinking about these things that may have been. but certainly i think we would the continuity of mrs. nixon pursuing her passions and the things that she felt fueled and

made her happiest. and so i think we certainly would have seen more of these diplomatic being a really important centerpiece of the work that she's doing, especially as american international affairs grow increasingly, increasingly important in this period. but then on the other hand, there are things that i think she really successfully going back to bob's of the white house collection it's so funny to think about the first ladies that followed her had very little to do with related to white house preservation because it had simply been done. so you don't see people like nancy and mrs. carter and mrs. really have much to do on that task. so while i think it's true that she could have pursued more of these other tasks that we see in the future, she certainly had some projects that have a nice bow on them at the of her time at the white house. i think, too, it's been mentioned too before two words get involved and get involved

and get your children involved. you know, it's really sad in this day and age. i don't know, in other states. but i know here in california, they don't teach geography in school. so when you say, you know, i'm from venezuela to somebody, they have no words. venezuela, you know, so get involved. get involved in you, whatever you can get involved with to make this country a better place i think that would be really something that she would carry on and the volunteer is how many in this room are volunteers. you are the backbone you the backbone of this country without you. i mean, at the nixon library, there are volunteers who have had 4000 hours. i mean, it's just incredible so i think she would continue with volunteer ism and she would continue with get involved. don't just sit and let somebody else do it. it's been mentioned too before too that indeed one person can make a difference. so i think that would be it.

so i think it's a, i think it's there. so it's a very tricky thing because i think part of the reason she got as much space to do what did was because what was going on watergate, she might have had that space. i'm not sure i don't know. so so on the one hand, i think the lesson is that she was able to kind of take advantage and find areas and, make her mark because. i think that i don't know if she would have had those opportunities otherwise, which is as serious and the dangers of counterfactuals sorry to be a bummer at one sorry bob make sure don't end on a bummer comment but i think that one of the things i think about is that, you know, president nixon served his full second term. he would have presided over the country's celebrations our

bicentennial in 1976. and the way she, you know, promoted volunteerism but just got out in the kind of she would have had a ball i think the bicentennial and those of us can remember back to that remember the great spirit of of unity and proud and a sense of pride in our country and volunteering was going on all over the place as part those celebrations. so i that you know if they had fit and would have been their last full year in the white house i think she would have just had an absolute grand time helping to lead the celebration of the bicentennial of our country. and it would have given her the i think to really take to new heights what she had been doing in terms of volunteerism and getting out meeting with people and just celebrating the idea of great country of ours. we have just about one minute

left, and i have one last question following up this. i always remember a conversation i had with one of the first directors here, john taylor, who knew mrs. nixon. it was about how much interest she had in what was then about to become the nixon presidential library museum and how she just had limited idea on feedback. i should on what she wanted to be said about her. and i'm thinking about how her legacy was truncated because of the sudden just like the kennedy assassination. the resignation was a shock and suddenly her life was and the white house was was over. and i've often wondered why she never thought about writing a memoir although, of course, by having her her daughter write it, she helped, but it still wasn't in her own voice. i'm wondering if you could weigh in before we have we're a little

bit by a minute, but i just wonder if you might also muse on why she didn't write her memoirs. i think one thing that i'll just say researching mrs. nixon is her sense of privacy and the things that she did and did not want shared with the public and think that one of the key pieces of a memoir are those behind the scenes moments with your family, with your husband that we see make a really good really first lady memoir and it just out of character for somebody like. mrs. nixon i can i completely concur with you, sara. i really think that was it and it was it was, it was mentioned to you the fact that her daughter, julie nixon, eisenhower wrote a fantastic book and if you get a chance, it's pat nixon, the untold story and that really helped was so much with julie. and again you know the the calling to herself she just wasn't that kind of person so i think that her legacy lives

through her family. three things about pat nixon. faith, family, friends. that was and love for her country. she really and she did it right. she really did. i agree completely. i think she she was so private, she wouldn't thought to do that. and humble pride and humble being having privacy and being humble. she wouldn't have thought that she needed to do that. you know, it's so interesting you say that, too. i always think about the fact that americans at the time didn't know that she was a first generation american, that her mother had been an immigrant from germany. but because so much of her irish ancestor tree, her great grandparents and great grandparents had come from ireland on her father's side. and so we have her birthday tomorrow and. we have st patrick's day next day, which is when she celebrate it. but people didn't that she was also her mother had come from germany. bob, would you like to just

address the of the memoir? sure. i'll address in a slightly different way. carl, you've mentioned when the library was being prepared in, 89 to 90, as she didn't care whether she was the library very much at all. and i was i was working in the in the president's office back in new jersey, kind of writing the story of his presidency for the library and. we had very little on mrs. nixon and i remember asking john taylor one time, you know, i wasn't there more on mrs. nixon. she said, well, you know, her idea was this was the president's library. you know, she didn't really care. well, i remember after the opening of which which my wife and i were at and as well as, i think, 50,000 other people feedback started to come back quickly after that, back to the president's office, back and looks looks like new jersey. there's not enough pat nixon in here. and indeed, there was not. so very quickly in short order, the pat nixon part of the library was expanded still

probably not big enough. and you know, even now it's it still you know some good stuff on mrs. nixon. but i think there could be a little bit more because of just what a huge role she played in president nixon's entire career going the way back to 1946. so but yeah, it was very funny. when that library opened, everybody on her, particularly who was there, who had been on her staff at the white house, was like, where's the pat nixon stuff? so in short order. pat nixon was put into the exhibits. thanks very much. right before this, we go to the film, which is really going to be a beautiful and emotional and really strong summer summarization of everything we've learned today. i also take my hat off to someone like mrs. nixon who has not sought credit, but who had as a woman a very public role in her father's presidency. that's julie nixon, eisenhower.

there was at one point when while her husband, david was active in the navy that julie became very active in the administration and as did both both daughters. and there's record settings, for example, of tricia nixon back to her father and julie reporting back to her father on public events. they when when what the reaction was. but julie also went out on her own and and promoted the environmental policies that we heard earlier about today. and she's never been given for that. much her mother i think the importance was that the message get out rather than the messenger being applauded for doing it. but it's a point that has been overlooked and i'm and i just wanted to mention that. so thanks very much and now we watch this beautiful wonderful.

to be just a small of this convention that's going to nominate richard nixon for another four years in the white house. goodbye, white house and the lovely lady pat nixon by his side. she is one of the most intriguing figures in american history and an effective diplomat, an ideal and an inspiration. i give you the first lady of our land, the first lady of our world patricia ryan nixon. i think you were in high school when your mother died, whether early and then you had to take care of your father and you were on your own.

you kind of take care of the family. i didn't set it was a pleasure because we all worked together. she rose from the humblest and harshest beginnings to be voted one of the most admired women in the world for 22 years. she said, people are my project and she moved easily and eagerly among people who sensed her strength and, felt her compassion. she reshaped and expand did the roles of both the second and first lady. mrs. nixon personally active visiting hospitals and other institutions. mrs. nixon enjoyed the park herself, even to the point of rolling in a few pat nixon. truly experience embodied and exemplified the american dream. her story began in a cabin in the copper hills of nevada late

on the night before st patrick's day, march 16th, 1912. she lost both her parents by 18 and went to work to pay the bills and keep her two brothers in school. she never let hardships limit or define her independent and adventurous. in 1932, she answered an ad to drive an elderly couple across the country. they were surprised pat ryan was a girl, but she got the job. she stayed in new york and took a radiology course at columbia university. returning to california, she enrolled at the university of southern california. while you were in school, did you decide what you wanted to do when you went to college? what wanted to become? i hadn't decided exactly, except that i knew i wanted an education. i didn't want to marry early. try to grow up without the

education which i felt was necessary to pay for her schooling. she found work in a los angeles department store and as an extra in films and i was offered an part, but i decided not to drop out of school and in 1937, when only in ten women earned a four year degree. pat ryan graduated cum laude in and with the equivalent of a master's degree. after graduation she taught at whittier high school, where she met a young lawyer named richard nixon. after world war two, the young couple settled down, began a family. tricia was born in 1946 and julie in 1948, when -- ran for congress from california's 12th district. pat was equal part and partner

in the campaign, and the formidable nixon was forged on their many travels. she excelled as an ambassador on, behalf of the american people. she traveled to 81 countries and state in the union, sharing her genuine warmth, indomitable spirit and her compassionate strength. she broke new ground as second lady wherever she went. she insisted that her schedule included with real people in real places, schools, orphanages, hospitals, village markets in panama. she even visited a leper colony. mrs. nixon visited the palace leprosy area, where she toured under the personal guidance of its director. she continued this custom as first lady in 1917. she brought relief supplies to the devastated country of peru. is a signal honor for me to this

decoration. the government of peru. i accept it for the of the united states who were glad to lend a helping hand to their neighbors in distress. pat nixon repeatedly the mold. she was the first first lady to travel to africa there and in south america she became the first first lady to serve as an official represented of the united states. as met the people and conferred with their leaders, she the first first lady to address another nation's parliament and the first to enter an active combat zone. this is nations walk a helicopter ride 15 minutes out of saigon to a war orphanage yet to drop. on the ground, there were jeep loads of soldiers who rode and cover for. she brushed official briefing so she could have more time to see the troop. when the president and first lady visited china. millions around the world saw that remote and isolate

communist country for the first time. through pat nixon's eyes, her attention to detail and respect for tradition was noted and a for master ching basic chinese phrases to choosing her now iconic red coat signifying luck and happiness. she was personally responsible for the chinese gesture captured the imagination of. america. the gift of two giant pandas to the national zoo in washington washington. closer to home. pat nixon actively encouraged women to run for public office. supported the equal rights amendment. lobbied her husband to appoint a woman to the supreme court. and was the first first lady to wear pants in public. pat nixon truly made the white house the people's house. she was responsible. its being lighted at night, a

tradition that continues to this day. she initiated a rose garden tours and candlelight christmas tours and as part of the extensive white house renovations which she oversaw. good afternoon and welcome to the beautiful new room of the white house installed wheelchair ramps pioneered tours for the blind and acquired more than 16 historic paintings and and furnishings. more than any first lady before or since since she was the most public of figures. but she was intensely private and only a lucky few knew her fun loving spirit and her sly sense of humor. yes, i do. and have a good laugh over the that i'm supposed to be shy. her later years afforded pat nixon what she truly desired most time with her family, including her four grandchildren. jenny, alex, melanie and

christopher. she passed away surrounded by her family in june of 1993. pat nixon was as accomplished as she was modest as as she was warm. although she spent nearly years in the public eye, she never sought the attention that came with her positions or activities even if people didn't know her. they knew that they admired nixon should not be underestimated. when you think of pat, her husband of 53 years, said, i hope that you remember the sunshine of her smile. she would like that.